In November 2015, Gearbox: Muncie - A Maker Hub, opened in the former Cintas building. The hub, a Sustainable Muncie Corporation (SMC) project, was promoted as a makerspace with a focus on community betterment, according to the Madjax website.
More than a year later, the makerspace was renamed “Madjax” — an homage to the facility’s location on Madison and Jackson streets. The facility was renamed to incorporate the project’s evolving brand, which included hosting a variety of maker, academic and community tenants, according to a release.
However, loans to the facility in 2016 and 2017 weren’t widely received by everyone, causing a lawsuit to be drawn between a Ball State Board of Trustees member and the city.
January 2016
Though Ball State Board of Trustees secretary Thomas Bracken didn’t formally file a lawsuit until fall 2017, he expressed dismay toward the makerspace during a Jan. 4, 2016, Muncie City Council meeting.
During the meeting, council members discussed Resolution 3-16, which was meant to establish a revolving fund for Madjax. The fund was created to funnel a $1-million credit line into the project and help provide capital for improvement projects.
Though Bracken applauded the collaboration of the project, he said it would cost millions to make it a reality. Additionally, he said the building was an “eye sore,” and should be torn down to create a green space, according to Muncie City Council minutes.
Before the resolution was adopted, Bracken said he didn’t want to make the impression of not investing in Muncie, rather that the city has limited resources, which should be used wisely.
In September 2017, Madjax director of operations Jennifer Greene told The Daily News the funds were used to bring the building up to code by adding ADA compliant elevators, stairways and bathrooms.
August 2017
During the Aug. 7, 2017, Muncie City Council meeting, Ordinance 33-17 was introduced. The ordinance would ultimately grant SMC with a $4.5-million bond to pay off the existing $1.8-million debt at Madjax and continue improvement projects to accommodate new programming and tenants.
During the meeting, Bracken applauded the efforts at Madjax and its tenants, but again mentioned he didn’t think the former Cintas building was the right place.
Ultimately, the ordinance was unanimously tabled until each councilperson had ample opportunity for his or her questions to be answered.
September 2017
After hearing from several community members, including Bracken, council adopted Ordinance 6-2 Sept. 11, 2017. Its adoption granted Madjax the $4.5-million loan.
Four days later, Bracken filed an injunction to prevent the city from going through with additional Madjax funding.
Parties listed in the lawsuit included the City of Muncie, the Muncie Redevelopment Commission, the Muncie Economic Redevelopment Commission and the Common Council of the City of Muncie.
November 2017
On Nov. 29, 2017, a preliminary hearing was held for the lawsuit at the Hamilton County Courthouse. However, after opening statements, both parties agreed to continue the hearing, progressing into the final hearing of the case.
After seven hours of witness testimony and cross examinations, both parties were given a Dec. 13, 2017, deadline to submit closing arguments, which would later be reviewed by Judge Steven Nation.
January 2018
After the proposed findings of fact and conclusions were filed in late December 2017, Nation was anticipated to make a ruling within two to four weeks, however, a ruling wouldn’t be made until late 2018.
February to June 2018
While the lawsuit remained undecided, the $4.5-million bond was frozen in place, which ultimately prevented tenants like Purdue Polytechnic from occupying space in Madjax.
“One of the reasons why we just kind of delayed was we wanted to have all the resources to make sure that when Purdue moved in, that it was a quality facility. That everything was in place to better serve our students, better serve our other stakeholders that are partnering with us,” said Corey Sharp, director of Purdue Polytechnic Anderson. “Also, just there was some overall infrastructure that needed to be built to make it work for Purdue.”
Sharp, who is also the vice president of SMC, said Purdue Polytechnic’s goal is to focus on programs and training centered around manufacturing and engineering.
With the bond frozen, Jane Ellery, president of SMC, said the board had to figure out how to keep the project afloat until it found other financial resources to build out the facility.
“It’s hard to generate revenue to make the overall process, try to get where it’s sustainable so the resources that are coming out of it sustain the functioning, and it’s just been difficult that we’ve had to concentrate on that rather than being able to take this money that we’ll now have, putting it into developing some additional spaces …
“I also think it’s given us a good chance to really sit back and say, ‘OK, Why is this important? What’s important?’ and I think we’re really ready to hit the road running now because we’ve talked through so many things over the last year just trying to understand what Madjax should be and what it can be,” said Ellery, who is also an assistant professor at Ball State.
July 2018
On July 6, 2018, Nation ruled in the favor of the city, which allowed the $4.5-million bond to be used by Madjax.
In his judgment, Nation said if the transaction (public funding for Madjax), was set aside by Bracken — who said he hasn’t visited Madjax in his testimony — it would: put jobs in jeopardy; threaten to shutter the 83,000-square-foot building once again; deprive Muncie of a draw to its downtown; threaten the $50,000-grant provided by the National Endowment of the Arts (which hosts an artist residence program); undermine Ball State University projects at the facility; and lose prior investment from the city and SMC.
“I’m just convinced that in cities that are trying to rebrand themselves and bring new development and new opportunities in for the millennials, entrepreneurs, our high school students ... that you need a facility like that that can offer different opportunities,” said Muncie Mayor Dennis Tyler.
Board of Trustees member Thomas Bracken declined to be interviewed for this story. After three phone calls and an email, Madjax director of operations, Jennifer Greene, was unreachable by time of publishing.
Contact Mary Freda with comments at mafreda@bsu.edu or on Twitter @Mary_Freda1.
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